This day comes just days after a contentious presidential election, which decided who will be the new commander in chief for the next four years.

Speaking of leaders, it was another future president, then-Governor Ronald Reagan, who posed a question about veterans in 1974, “Where do we find such men?”

He answered: “We find them in our streets, in the offices, the shops and the working places of our country and on the farms.”

He was referring to ordinary people – both men and women — doing extraordinary things.

Thank you, my fellow veterans, for stepping up and being extraordinary.

Department Commander John Sampson marches in New York City’s Veterans Day Parade, along with Department Auxiliary President Debbie Kryczkowsk and Sons of the American Legion Detachment Commander J. Bruce Ruthven.